The firm which owns the worldwide rights to the Rubiks Cube has issued a warning about fake cubes.

Seven Towns holds the worldwide rights in the trademarks, copyrights and the overall image of the Rubik’s Cube and has warned both retailers and shoppers to beware of fakes this Christmas.

“Around this time of year, every year, we remind both the trade and the consumer to watch out for sub-standard copycat cubes,” said David Hedley Jones, Senior Vice President at Seven Towns.

He runs the firm's brand enforcement/intellectual property protection programme, which operates throughout the world.

“The intrinsic design and look of the Rubik’s Cube has not changed at all since those early years” continued Hedley Jones.

“And as, over the years, new generations of puzzlers have taken up cubing, we have always taken extreme care to ensure that the efficacy of the iconic Rubik brand keeps fresh and vivacious.

“We work closely with customs authorities, trading standards officers and the police throughout the world, and have on many occasions been able to stop fake shipments (mainly from the Far East) reaching their intended destinations.

“In this country, if you are offered Rubik’s Cubes which do not carry the Rubik’s logo, or are not in the ‘official’ packaging developed by ourselves in co-operation with our UK distributor Drumond Park Games, we would ask you to contact us, so that we can consider taking immediate legal action further up the supply pipeline.

Throughout the year, we do everything within our power to stop shipments of counterfeit cubes at the docks – with considerable success, I might add.

“Brand enforcement is a way of life these days” he continued. “It is becoming more and more essential to attack both the supply and the demand for fake goods, and we also work closely with our licensee partners in over 30 countries to ensure that our mutual global protection and enforcement strategies are robust and co-ordinated.

“In this way we safeguard both our intellectual property and the creative development of the Rubik’s brand for future generations to experience and enjoy to the full.”

If retailers or traders are offered what they think might be counterfeit Rubik’s Cubes, they should contact the Legal Department at Seven Towns Ltd. Telephone 0207 727 5666, or email davidj@seventowns.com